


The Five Times Cinder's Lie Detector Went Off and One Time it Didn't

by sailingonstardust



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, caito, kaider, marissa meyer, the lunar chronicles - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 00:25:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3789769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailingonstardust/pseuds/sailingonstardust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The title is pretty self-explanatory ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Five Times Cinder's Lie Detector Went Off and One Time it Didn't

The day had been a busy one, and when eleven year old Cinder, only having been awake from her cyborg operation for four months, was laid in bed and the words “Goodnight, I love you.” were whispered against her forehead by a scruffy chin, the girl smiled. Garan had been incredibly kind to her, as had his youngest daughter, Peony. Pearl and Adri, however, did not seem entirely fond of her presence in their life despite the fact that it was certainly not Cinder’s choice. So when Garan shot Adri a look that Cinder knew meant that he wanted her to wish her goodnight, the girl was not surprised at the indignation that crossed her stepmother’s face.

 

With a huff and a scowl Adri bent towards Cinder’s head and pressed a cold kiss to the girl’s newly grafted skin. “Goodnight.” Adri all but spat, and when the hard woman turned to see her husband still looking at her with the same expression, she muttered “I love you.” Immediately Cinder’s lie detector went off; an orange circle in the corner of her vision. The first time it appeared she had not known what it meant, but she quickly figured it out. In this case, however, she did not need the light to tell her that her stepmother did not love her. Cinder told herself that that was quite alright.

 

****

The air was hot and thick around Cinder as she chased Peony around the street outside their home in New Beijing. The clap of feet against the pavement mixed with the tread of Iko’s tires and Cinder found it to be quite a pleasant sound. The girl missed Garan. She had heard Adri tell Peony and Pearl that he was not coming back, and it had been a hard month in the Linh household. By playing together, the girls were allowed a welcome respite from their mourning, so Cinder made sure to stick by her younger sister as often as possible.

 

Suddenly Cinder heard a cry of pain and looked up to see Peony cradling her arm on the hot pavement. The cyborg ran over to the girl, calling “Peony! Are you alright?”

 

“I’m… fine…” The girl managed between sniffles, but Cinder’s lie detector lighted in the corner of her vision as soon as the words were uttered. Even without the light, Cinder knew that the swelling and purple color of Peony’s forearm was not ‘fine’.

 

Before she could call for help, Cinder heard the slam of the front door and Adri’s angry shout of “What do you think you’re doing? Get away from her!” Cinder backed up from her younger sister as her stepmother approached the girl and gingerly inspected her arm, murmuring “Are you alright, darling? It’s okay now, we’ll get you to the doctor.” Adri glared daggers at Cinder as if it were her fault the girl had hurt herself and helped Peony’s tear stained face to the car. Cinder’s heart broke at the helplessness she felt as she could only watch as her sister was carted away in pain.

 

****

Cinder’s heartbeat resonated through her body as she stood perfectly still with her eyes closed, the only thought in her mind that of controlling Wolf’s bioelectricity. She vaguely registered the swing of his arm and she scrunched up her face in concentration, but it was no use. She felt the shocking pain that came with the hits Wolf doled out despite the pillow she was wearing and the fact that Wolf was only using a quarter of his strength. With a thud she landed on the floor and her eyes flew open, no doubt with an angry glare on her face. Though the frustration was directed at herself, she could tell that Wolf felt bad.

 

Behind her, Cinder heard a muffled laugh and she turned to direct her glare at Thorne’s shaking form where he sat watching from the pilot’s seat of the Rampion. “I think you’re getting better.” He smirked, and an orange dot lighted at the corner of Cinder’s vision. She simply rolled her eyes and stood back up to get smacked by Wolf once again.

 

****

Cinder was a bundle of nerves as she and Iko made their way down the posh corridor of the palace to Kai’s office. When the blueprints in her head indicated that they had arrived at the proper door, she took a deep breath and barged right in. Without saying a word, she crossed the room to where she could see that Kai’s advisor was sitting on a low couch and pressed her tranquilizer-dart-filled hand to the man’s neck as she tied a cloth around his mouth and then held him firmly in place with her other hand. The older man let out a yelp of surprise and Kai turned to see what was the matter, only to be stopped dead in his tracks.

 

“Cinder.” He breathed, and the girl’s breath caught in her throat. “What are you _doing_ here? Actually, what are you doing in general?” Kai questioned with a look of confusion on his face as he took in the odd sight before him.

 

“Oh, well her new hand has these darts in it that knock people out.” Iko chirped, and Kai turned to look at her as if he hadn’t seen her.

 

“But only for a few minutes.” Cinder added hastily, then flinched at her own stupidity. _As if that made it any better._

“Okay…” Kai trailed, a confused expression still on his face. “But why on earth are you here?” She could sense the anger rising in his voice, and Cinder willed this little exchange to speed itself along.

 

“I…” She started, then let out a frustrated sigh. “I can’t tell you.”

 

Kai let out a huff of laughter and looked at looked at her incredulously. “Oh, so you’ve somehow managed to escape prison, barge into my office, which, might I add, is under the highest level of security in the entire Eastern Commonwealth, taken my advisor captive, and now you’re holding a tranquilizer dart gun embedded in your hand to his neck and you can’t bother to tell me why the hell you’re here?”

 

Cinder flinched at the heat behind his words and said “I really can’t tell you. Iko, come here.” The android made her way across the room and Cinder ordered her to place her hands just so so that the man could not escape her grasp. Once Iko was holding Torin to her satisfaction, Cinder made her way to Kai, guilt at what she was about to do written all over her face.

 

“Tell me something,” Kai ordered, “anything.”

 

Cinder sighed raggedly and held up her hand, palm out. “We’re kidnapping you, Kai.” She said simply, and the look of amusement that crossed the emperor’s face made the girl scowl. “What?”

 

“You’re insane.” Kai all but spat as he glared at her. “I should just have you arrested right here and now.” Cinder flinched at his words, wondering how they could hurt so much, when she saw the familiar orange light flicker in the corner of her vision.

 

Surprise rushed through her and she was bolstered with a renewed sense of courage. With a simple “I’m sorry about this.”, she let loose one of her darts. It lodged itself in Kai’s forearm and a look of anger passed across his face before he wobbled and Cinder moved to catch him and lowered him gently to the hardwood floor. So far everything was going according to plan. Cinder just hoped it stayed that way.

 

****

She could hardly believe the time had finally come. After weeks of being with these people and travelling all across earth and the space above it, they were finally ready to go to Luna and claim what was rightfully Cinder’s. She thought she should feel at least a little hope, a little excitement even, yet the only feeling she could discern within her was intense nervousness and fear. Not for the first time in the past couple of weeks, Cinder voiced her apprehension.

 

“Hey,” Thorne consoled as he squinted at her, his eyesight only just barely having come back, “it’ll be alright. I believe in us.” Before Cinder could be comforted by his words, the confounded orange light appeared in her line of sight. With a frown and a curt nod of her head, Cinder turned away. She could not blame Thorne when even she felt the same way. Quite honestly, Cinder thought that there was very little hope for them all getting out alive.

 

****

A familiar feeling of nervousness flooded Cinder’s body as she took Thorne’s waiting arm, but this was a good nervousness. This was the kind of nervous that you only felt on your wedding day. As the first notes of a traditional wedding song rang out, Cinder caught Thorne’s eye and returned his unabashed grin. Without further ado, the pair made their way down the aisle, her soon-to-be husband waiting at the other end with a look of pure awe on his face.

 

Cinder knew that if she had the capability to blush, she would surely be doing it now with all of these eyes on her, some familiar, but most foreign. The dress Iko had picked for her was a relatively simple one, and that was only because Cinder refused to wear any of the first hundred – incredibly fancy – designs Iko had shown her. Much to the android’s chagrin, Cinder had also insisted upon wearing her boots below the floor length gown. White lace gloves trailed up Cinder’s arms and she felt truly beautiful, something she never thought she would feel.

 

When she and Thorne finally made it to the end of the aisle and he let her go with a teary smile, Cinder turned to face Kai. He looked as handsome as ever in his tuxedo and slicked back hair. Her heart fluttered at the thought that he was all hers.

 

Kai reached for Cinder’s shaking hand and beamed at her, then murmured in a voice filled with adoration and sincerity so quietly that only she could hear, “You are the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.” She looked up at him with searching eyes, just waiting for the orange light, but it never came. She let out a shaky exhale and smiled back at him, all the while thinking of how lucky she was to be here, now, with Kai. Quite honestly, there was nowhere else she would rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think (✿◠‿◠)


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